The Wired Weigh-in for April 18. 2007

They dress alike. They travel in small gangs. They prey on the rich. They can strike fear into the hearts of men, women and children.

They are NBA referees, and Buck Harvey opens his e-mailbag to wonder if the suspension of Joey Crawford, for his improper behavior toward Tim Duncan on Sunday, will make the rest of the league’s fraternity of referees angry at the Spurs. Link

Crawford issued two technical fouls against Duncan as he sat on the bench, laughing to himself at Crawford’s calls in the game. He supposedly tried to goad Duncan into a fistfight, too. Harvey doesn’t call Crawford insane, but the Anchor Desk will and just did.

Reaction to Virginia Tech massacre

The day after the nation’s worst shooting, a Northside substitute was arrested for making terrorist threats against district officials and St. Edward’s University in Austin was locked down after bomb threats. All of that has got local school security officials thinking about campus safety. Link

Also in the wake of the shootings, legislators took steps to reaffirm the Lone Star state’s commitment to gun rights, voting on and offering up a series of bills about firearms. Link

Former EN columnist: Cedar is nothing to sneeze at

Rick Casey, who now writes for the Houston Chronicle, gave a lecture at Trinity University about being an urban rancher and the rigors of land preservation. For old times’ sake, 12 elected officials made anonymous calls to Casey while he was here and ratted each other out. Link

Benson and Incarnate Word Football

Mike Finger writes about the birth of a football program at Incarnate Word, to be bankrolled in large part by New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson. The Anchor Desk hopes Benson doesn’t try to move the team to Seguin Beauty College No. 2 if New Braunfels offers a better stadium deal in a few years. Link

San Antonio to lure more Mexican tourists

Half of Mexican tourists coming to Texas go to Houston, a third go to Dallas and 16 percent come to SA. The city wants to change that, and they’re going to do it by getting more direct flights to Mexico. Link

Greehey gives money to children’s cancer center

Bill Greehey, former Valero Energy chief, forked over $25 million for the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He previously gave $25 million to St. Mary’s University. Don’t worry about Greehey. He still has all of those 0.9 cents from gas station pump sales. Link

Warnings for low-water crossings

Hays County commissioners are paying $800,000 to put warning lights on the county’s 16 worst low-water crossings. It will include a Web-based system that will let travelers and residents know the status of each, so that dangerous crossings can be avoided. Link

Seguin hates me, too

The city is planning to install red light cameras. Balcones Heights already has them, although collections of fines haven’t gone as planned. Schertz is on deck with a plan, and Kerrville is also eyeing a plan. Soon, I’ll be obeying traffic laws everywhere, upsetting nature’s delicate balance. Link